


It Started With A Shoe

by yuto_da



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Attempt at Humor, Ballroom Dancing, Embarrassment, Historical Inaccuracy, Kuroo's a prince, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sort of a cinderella AU only...different, Tsukishima's a writer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-10-09 03:36:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10402959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuto_da/pseuds/yuto_da
Summary: This is a story of Kuroo Tetsurou's and Tsukishima Kei's love story.Or, Kuroo's a prince and gets hit by a shoe.





	1. A Goddamed Shoe

**Author's Note:**

> God, I love this couple.

A damned shoe.

A _shoe_ had flown from one side of the room and smacked him on the back of his head, causing the entire ballroom to silence immediately and stare in shock and -some women- in horror.

Kuroo’s face was painted in shock. One of his hands rose to rub the back of his head where the shoe had made contact and his other hand held a glass of high – class wine. He placed the glass down on a nearby table and bent to pick up the shoe. He stood up tall and turned to face the area where he believed the shoe had flown from and could tell immediately tell who the owner was.

Kei’s expression was -in the simplest of terms- pure horror. He gasped but the sound was muffled by his palms that were covering his mouth. He had no idea that in his rush to attend the ball and not be tardy had made him careless enough that he couldn’t complete a simple task of tying his shoe properly.

He moved quickly before anyone in the ballroom recovered from the shock and went to the dark – haired male’s side. “I sincerely apologise for my mistake.”Kei bowed deeply, his cheeks were flushed bright red and as he was cursing his carelessness, he saw it.

The material of the man’s shoe whom he’d hit was the expensive kind. The kind you’d see from an aristocrat or someone from royalty, basically from someone who had money not a simple commoner like him. Kei cursed in his mind again. Not only had he publicly embarrassed himself, he’d taken it a step further and hit an aristocrat. Kei felt too ashamed to lift his head but did slowly when he heard this loud cackle coming from the man’s left. He saw a muscular male with black hair that appeared as though it had stripes of white in the bright lighting of the ballroom. The male had his arm wrapped around his waist and his head was thrown back in laughter, the sound resounding loudly through the silent ballroom.

Kei watched the male lift his head back into its proper position and the first thing he noticed was the bright, yellow eyes he had. ‘ _Brilliant. He’s friends with a foreigner as well, good going, Kei.’_ He chastised himself in his mind.

“I can’t believe that happened to you, Tetsu!” The male said and his voice was as loud as his laugh. He slapped an arm on ‘Tetsu’s’ back and made the slightly less muscular man jostle.

“Shut up, Koutarou.” The dark-haired man tried to whisper to his friend but Kei had heard him. Tetsu looked at Kei and smiled slightly, “It’s alright,” He added to subdue the people staring at the trio and listening in to their conversation, “I’m alright, I wasn’t harmed at all.”

Kei internally sighed in relief but his relief was short lived when the male behind Tetsu, Koutarou, spoke up. “Who would have thought that when you finally decide to attend one of these balls that you despise immensely, it led to you, a prince, getting hit on the back of the head by a shoe?”

‘ _Prince.’_ He was a prince. He was a bloody _prince._ The man smiling kindly at him at that moment was a prince. Heir to a throne, future ruler of many and Kei had hit him with a _bloody shoe._ His already pale face lost even more colour and he immediately bowed his head, quickly looking the prince over and seeing the beautiful and expensive decorations on his clothing. The dark, burgundy color of the fitted suit he had on added with his dark hair was obviously of someone with power.

“I apologise for my rudeness, I didn’t know you were a prince. “ Kei apologised once more. He had begun imagining his new life in a dungeon getting tortured and punished for his rudeness to the prince for days on end. He was most definitely over reacting but he couldn’t help his imagination, that bit was essential for a writer and imagining scenarios his fellow peers and wouldn’t dare think of and writing them down on paper fed him and put clothes over his back.

“Damn it, Koutarou, shut it.” Kuroo hissed angrily at his friend and Kei was confused. Why was the Prince of some – probably important – palace, (he couldn’t be bothered to think of a name) getting angry with his friend instead of with him, -if he hadn’t emphasised it enough already- the man who _hit him in the back of the head with a bloody shoe._

“Ah, it’s alright, really.” Kuroo said hurriedly. He turned to the band members and signalled for them to resume the music. He couldn’t take the sound of whispering around him any longer. The band members played a quick beat tune that slowly but surely made the gentlemen and ladies in the room join together for a dance. Turning back to the blonde, Kuroo was surprised to find no one standing there and asked his suddenly sulking friend about it.

“He escaped when you were signalling the band.” Koutarou pouted which made Kuroo sigh. For a man his size, Koutarou was extremely childish and tended to sulk quite easily. Kuroo sighed again and rubbed his friend’s shoulder affectionately. “Why didn’t you stop him?” Kuroo asked.

“He was really quick and was gone before I could even realise it,” Koutarou said and in a flash, he disappeared from the other male’s side going to God knows where and leaving Kuroo standing there, searching through the crowd for a head of light-blonde hair and getting disappointed when he found no sign of the blonde male. He didn’t even understand why he was disappointed that the blonde had run away from him. ‘ _Probably because this is the first time someone had accidentally hit you with a shoe in your own home.’_   Kuroo’s mind supplied and he let out a small laugh, maybe he’d begin attending the balls his father enjoyed to throw more often and if his reason was to –hopefully- see the blonde male, Kuroo didn’t acknowledge it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How it all happened and more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it good?

He ran and ran and ran till his lungs burned with the need of air and he couldn’t breathe. Kei had no clue as to where he was but that wasn’t of importance. However, what was of importance was how he’d _barely_ managed to survive for twenty years and had yet to accomplish anything and yet, he was going to be killed.

Kei didn’t know much about the law but he figured for what he’d done, death was all that awaited him. Honestly speaking, how many souls had lived to share the tale of them smacking a person od royalty on the head with a shoe? None. That’s how many. None, because not a single one of them had been foolish enough to do such a thing. That was until Kei did.

The blonde groaned when he remembered what had occured in the ballroom. “ _Maybe I should just hide for sometime and wait till the fiasco ends_?’ Kei hated that idea but he had no other choice.

He greatly disliked cowardly people and had vowed to himself to never act as one but, in his situation, there was nothing he could do but hide. He -definitely- wasn’t rich enough to run away to a faraway land, change his identity and start a fresh. And money wasn’t the only issue; his job was one as well. Fortunately enough, his career as a writer didn’t involve going outside unless he had to, leaving him indoors, writing manuscripts for hours on end. Thus, his original idea of escaping his definite death and running to another land was squashed.

His only hope was that the incident blew over quickly and he could resume his usual life of staying inside his small but cosy home, but he doubted it. Such acts are rarely forgotten.

Pulling himself into an upright position, his back pressed against the cool wall behind him and his back resting on the cold, tiled floor. Kei’s mind went back to the ballroom and he let out another groan. He began cursing why he attended the bloody ball and his mind helpfully supplied him with the memory a few days back before he went to the ceremony and before he shamed himself.

 

                                                       _‘A couple of days before the ball_.’

“Hey, Kei, have you seen this?” The dark-haired man walking down the street beside Kei asked, his pale, slender fingers pointing to the paper held in his other hand.

Kei didn’t care but humored his friend and paused to look at the paper, his pale eyebrow rising at what was written on it.

‘ ** _The Fiftieth Annual Ball in Honor of Prince Hajime’s Return, hosted at the Charles’ Palace. All are invited!’_**

“What is this?” Kei asked with mild curiosity.

“A ball, Apparently, Prince Hajime has returned from the battlefield in one piece and the king wants to celebrations.” Akaashi Keiji said, shrugging his shoulders and reading the finer details indicated below the headline.

As they were a Kingdom it wasn’t strange for one of the princes to leave to fight a war against another country. Prince Hajime was one of the King’s sons and next for the throne and he had left for a few weeks and had only recently returned. But what caught Kei’s interest wasn’t the return of their future king but the words that followed after.

 ** _‘All are invited_** _._ ’

Now that was strange. Usually, the King tended to hold a few balls now and then but they were usually private invitation only and even then, the ones that attended were highly successful parties or people high in the social ladder. Not commoners like Kei and Akaashi.

“Isn’t it strange?” Kei asked.

“What is?” Akaashi was confused as to what the blonde was asking.

“Why did the King invite us all?” Kei asked his fellow male. The two had resumed walking down the street to their destination, swiftly moving through the rushed crowd of working men and women, all in a rush to arrive at work quickly.

“I don’t know,” Akaashi shrugged his shoulder. “Maybe, he just wanted to celebrate his son’s glorious return,” Akaashi replied and ducked low before twisting on his heel and curving to the side to avoid a woman practically sprinting to work.

“That could be true but,” he quickly turned and looked at Akaashi and said, “If your son went to war and returned safe, wouldn’t you want a private celebration instead of a public one?” When posed like that, it really didn’t make sense. But thinking about it wouldn’t do them any good so the subject was dropped and Kei faced forward and continued walking with the other male in silence.

 

It wasn’t till later in the day when they were alone that the topic reappeared. Akaashi raced over to him with a mildly bright look in his eyes that Kei had never seen before. “I thought of something great.”

Kei’s eyebrow rose, “What is it?”

“You require funds for your next book, correct?”

Kei nodded.

“What if you attended the ball and found someone willing to fund your next book?” Akaashi suggested somewhat excitedly.

“What?” Kei couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Who would willingly want to fund a low-rate writer?”

“I don’t know but there is a chance someone could want to,” Akaashi replied.

Kei shook his head. “Let me understand what you’re suggesting I do. You’re suggesting that I, _a simple commoner,_ go to a _royal_ ball filled with _royalty_ and find a _patron?”_

“Yes, that is exactly what I’m saying.” Akaashi deadpanned. “We need the money anyway,” Akaashi looked around their shabby home; the place was barely managing to say on its feet. The foundation had weakened over the years. The paint was peeling away and when the rainy season arrived the entire house flooded. It was obvious they needed the money for a various number of reasons.

“You’re saying that as though I’d actually find a patron,” Kei looked around their home and agreed with Akaashi. It really was in bad shape.

“You might and I’m betting on that chance,” Akaashi offered Kei one of his rare genuine smiles. “Besides, what is the worst that could happen?”

If only he knew then. If he had only refused and stayed at home. If only he knew the embarrassment that awaited him. But he couldn’t turn back time no matter how many times he wished he could and so the two began searching for the best clothes that Kei could wear to the ball. They managed to find something halfway decent and Kei stood there staring down at the clothes and considered the positives and negatives of attending the ball or not attending. His consideration was cut short by Akaashi dragging him out of the door of their home and onwards to the castle.

 

                                                                              ‘Currently,’

Kei stood up from the ground. He couldn’t sit there groaning and damning himself and Akaashi to the pits of hell forever, he needed to leave the castle and hide in his house for eternity. He looked around his surroundings and decided to go straight till he found an exit or another door hopefully leading to the outside.

He passed a number of large doors, all of which he opened and found that they were simply rooms and not the exit he was searching for. He continued walking, wondering how large a castle could possibly be when he passed another large, brown door. He sighed, knowing he wouldn’t find anything other than a –too large- room but still walked to it and twisted the handle.

Kei instantly regretted ever opening the door.

Before him stood, Prince Iwaizumi with his pants at his ankles and his hips pressed against the ass of some male whose face Kei couldn’t see. He only caught a flash of chocolate brown hair before he slammed the door shut and ran down the hall, his pale cheeks bright red.

‘ _Why does this keep happening? Is it a thing? Do I somehow know exactly when a Prince was in the vicinity and stumble upon them –or into them- doing something embarrassing?’_ Kei was definitely sure that once he left this large castle, he was never, ever, returning.


	3. The Search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo goes to someone for help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably extremely crappy and plotless but bear with it, the next chapter things happen, I promise!!!

Kuroo couldn’t stand the whispers and glanced occasionally sent his way any longer.

After the blonde had ran away, the guests had came up to him and some had offered apologies for the incident, others had given their opinion on the blonde -not that Kuroo asked them for it- and for some reason, Kuroo didn’t like the disrespectful way they spoke about the blonde. Thus, he had been casually -as casual as he could be whilst turning tail and going the opposite way whenever he caught sight of someone walking up to him- running away from them and using his ‘rather important talk’ with Koutarou as an excuse.

It worked for a while till one particularly rude fellow had rudely interrupted Kuroo’s and Koutarou’s talk and had proceeded to offer his thoughts -that Kuroo, once again, didn’t ask for- on the blonde and how ‘commoners shouldn’t be allowed passage to the places where the higher – class people resided.’

Kuroo wanted to land a punch on the rude man but held the urge back and politely smiled at him. He used the opportunity when he saw a familiar head of black hair walk into the ball room to excuse himself and walk up to the dark-haired man. Kuroo spotted the brown-haired male who followed after his brother and noted how his clothes were slightly rumpled and how he had a slight flush on his cheeks. He kept his face blank but inwardly he sighed.

“Hajime!” Kuroo called out making his brother to pause and turn to face him.

Hajime waited till Kuroo stopped in front of him to reply. “Yes, what is it, Tetsurou?”

Most of the guests had paused whatever it was they were engaging in to watch the two males converse, it was rather well – known how the King of Gateway Kingdom had been remarried after his first wife was caught in bed with another man and how less than two years after their marriage, the King’s new wife had given birth to a son, Kuroo Tetsurou, half – brother to the King’s first son, Iwaizumi Hajime. The people were initially confused as to why the two Princes had different surnames if they were brothers till their new Queen had explained the reason why. The Queen had said that she didn’t want the first Prince to think everything was changing suddenly by converting her son’s name and had decided to leave their surnames as they were which –though he never said so- Hajime greatly appreciated.

“Have you, by any chance passed a blonde male on your way here?” Kuroo knew it was futile asking but still, he wanted to hope that his older brother had seen his object of interest.

Hajime furrowed his brows in confusion, “No, I haven’t seen anyone at all.” The question was too strange for Hajime to ignore. “Why?”  

Kuroo was disappointed but hid it well. He wasn’t really in the mood to be questioned by Hajime; he just wanted to escape the ball and the stifling people who attended it. “No reason, just asking.” Kuroo knew Hajime wouldn’t let up on him and so he changed the topic quickly before Hajime could respond.

“I saw you walk in with Oikawa.”

Hajime tensed slightly. He kept his posture neutral but his eyes were slightly squinted at his younger brother, the light from the large chandelier made Hajime’s eyes shine dangerously, daring his younger brother to make a comment.

Kuroo chuckled and lifted his hands in a surrendering motion, “Relax, Hajime.” He stopped laughing and told Hajime with a serious look on his face, “You know I support you in your decisions but if you don’t control your relationship, you and he,” Kuroo cocked his head in the direction Oikawa was in, “are going to end up in trouble.”

Hajime opened his mouth about to protest but stopped when Kuroo gave him a deadpan look. He sighed instead and looked at Oikawa with an emotion on his face that Kuroo couldn’t describe before turning to face his younger brother. He nodded his head firmly, “I understand, I’ll clean up my act.”

He said it so seriously that Kuroo couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped him. “I didn’t mean anything like that. I simply meant, be careful, alright?”

Kuroo slapped his brother on the shoulder before walking in the direction of the exit. He had barely moved a few feet when Hajime spoke up, his voice a bit louder for Kuroo to hear him over the crowds of mindless chatter and soft music playing in the background.

“Father will be rather angry that you left, Tetsurou.”

Kuroo grinned and turned his head to face Hajime, his eyes were twinkling with mischievous intent that Hajime recognized all too well. “I know.” And with that Kuroo left the ballroom, leaving his brother, guard and all the other guests he didn’t care for behind, he began his search for the mysterious blonde with the brown shoe.

Or so he would have if he even had the slightest inkling to where he should begin his search.

Kuroo stopped in his steps. ‘ _I should probably ask someone who has more experience with…whatever it is I’m doing.’_ He scratched his head and racked his brain for anyone who had experience with searching –he settled for ‘searching’ instead of stalking or prowling the streets in search of a tall, gorgeous blonde male. He deemed it was too long of a word- for a certain person _._

_‘Maybe she’d know him…’_ Kuroo thought and began walking to where his room was located to change out of his ‘princely’ clothes and into more casual and comfortable ones. After doing so, Kuroo stealthily snuck out of the palace with years of practice underneath his belt, he wasn’t spotted by any guard and escaped into the night, walking hurriedly to where he knew her store was located.

It took some time but Kuroo arrived at the ‘ _Finder’s Store’_ , a place that located whatever item it is that the customer was searching for. Normally the business was done at prices that waver depending on the item being searched for but Kuroo was lucky as he knew the owner rather well. He looked around him to see if anyone was watching him before grabbing the door handle and walking inside the store, a small bell jingling above his head, signalling the entrance of a new customer.

“Welcome,” A tall handsome man said, turning away from his task to properly greet the customer but he stopped when he realized it was Kuroo. “Oh, it’s Kuroo-san, hello.”

“Hello, Asahi,” Kuroo replied. “Is she in today?” Kuroo asked, getting straight to the point.

Asahi nodded his head and held up a finger signalling for Kuroo to wait as he placed down the plate he was in the middle of wiping dry and went through a door that Kuroo knew led to the back of the store. He waited somewhat patiently for Asahi to return and was relieved when Asahi returned shortly with his employer in tow.

The woman stopped before Kuroo and gracefully curtsied, her black hair moving slightly from her back to her slim shoulder with the movement. She rose and said to the Prince, “Hello, Tetsurou-san.”

Kuroo shook his head exasperatedly. He had told her on multiple occasions to not be so formal with him and she had agreed but the woman still chose to greet him in that manner. “Hello, Shimizu-san, it’s been quite a while.” He greeted with a small smile.

“Yes it has,” Shimizu cocked her head slightly to the side and said to Kuroo, “But for you to come into my store unannounced is rare.”

Kuroo had to agree. Usually he would pass by the store and inform the store owner of the time he would be able to visit but with his brother’s return and his father forcing him to attend a number of parties, both in his kingdom and out of it, he hadn’t found the time.

“Yes, well, Father had me attending balls throughout the neighbouring Kingdoms and Hajime recently returned and as such I hadn’t found the time to pass by.” Kuroo explained to Shimizu who nodded her head understandingly and gestured for him to follow her into her work area.

They made small talk on the walk there and Kuroo cut the polite talk once Shimizu closed the door behind him.

“I need your assistance.” He said, fixing the dark-haired beauty with a serious look.

“I thought you did,” Shimizu replied, “What do you need help with?”

“There…is someone I would like to ask you to find,” Kuroo felt a bit embarrassed saying his request out loud. He felt it would sound foolish to another person’s ears and that was the reason he came to Shimizu. He knew the woman would never judge him no matter what it was he told her and the fact that she owned a store that assisted in searching for certain items was just a stroke of good luck.

Shimizu’s eyebrow rose. She and Kuroo had been friends for quite some time, their friendship dating back to their early years of life, and she had seen the –somewhat- kind man pass through different women, all bearing potential to be a future graceful, kind and beautiful Queen and wife, but none had ever lasted more than a month and Shimizu had simply thought Kuroo was –for lack of a better word- seeing his options before he chose one woman and settled down and while she had expected a few more years to pass before it happened, it seemed she was wrong.

“Who is she?” Shimizu asked with curiosity clear in her voice.

Shimizu was confused when Kuroo nervously looked to the side. “It isn’t a woman that I am searching for,” Those words further confused Shimizu and it showed on her face which spurred the dark-haired male to explain his request from the beginning, including the incident in the palace.

Kuroo knew Shimizu wouldn’t judge him but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t laugh at him when she heard the story behind his request. And she did.

Kuroo waited till Shimizu’s laughter had died down to the occasional giggle before speaking in a dry tone, “Koutarou, as well, found it rather amusing.”

Shimizu let out another giggle at that.

“Back to the matter at hand,” Kuroo said quickly before Shimizu could begin laughing again, “Will you do it?”

Shimizu thought about it for a second before answering. “Yes, Tetsurou-san, I will help you find this mysteriously tall, gorgeous blonde as you so gracefully described him.”

Kuroo ignored Shimizu’s comment and rose from his seat and walked to the door, turning around to thank the dark-haired woman before exiting her office and the store and walking back to the palace at a leisure pace. He couldn’t wait to see the blonde male and the thought of seeing that beautiful face once more made a wide grin appear on his lips that failed to disappear even when he reached to the palace and went up to his room.

‘ _Considering Shimizu’s speed at this kind of job, I won’t have to wait long before seeing him again.”_ With that thought in his mind –and the wide grin still firmly in place on his lips- Kuroo climbed into his bed and fell asleep.

**Bonus:-**

Shimizu walked back into her working space and took a seat behind the desk, placing her elbows onto her desk; she intertwined her fingers and began replaying her conversation with the Prince earlier on.

_‘Hmm… so even Tetsurou can find someone that can make him look so flustered,’_ Shimizu remembered how flushed the Prince’s cheeks had been when he was trying to describe the blonde and let out a chuckle.

_‘Well, I suppose it would be of no harm to find this beautiful blonde male,_ ’ Shimizu thought with a small –almost devious- smile on her lips. ‘ _I too want to meet this blonde male that can make my dear friend blush as though he was a young maiden.’_ Shimizu leaned back in her chair and gracefully crossed her legs before calling out to her two assistants.

“Yes, Shimizu-san?” A small blonde girl with her hair tied up in a ponytail asked politely and beside her stood the dark-haired male who was usually left in charge of the store when Shimizu wasn’t there.

“We have a new…unique request.” Shimizu informed her assistants of the details but held back information on who requested it as a small favour to her childhood friend.

With a fraudulent smirk on her lips, Shimizu said to her employees, “Let’s find this beautiful blonde and deliver him to his Prince, shall we?”

**Author's Note:**

> The idea was from a prompt found on tumblr that fitted these two so much but I hope i do the story justice. It's going to span over a few chapters, maybe 8-10, and i hope you enjoyed it and that you look forward to chapter two where it begins after Tsukki ran away, but till then, Sayonara!


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